Nanotubes, nanocrystals, nanowires, and particularly semiconductor nanowires have gained a great deal of attention for their interesting and novel properties in electrical, chemical, optical and other applications. Such nanomaterials have a wide variety of expected and actual uses, including use as semiconductors for nanoscale electronics, optoelectronic applications in emissive devices, e.g., nanolasers, LEDs, etc., photovoltaics, and sensor applications, e.g., as nano-ChemFETS.
While commercial applications of the molecular, physical, chemical and optical properties of these materials have been postulated for all of these different types of materials, generating commercially viable products has not, as yet, been forthcoming. In the world of devices with integrated nanomaterial elements, some of the difficulties in producing commercially viable products has stemmed from the difficulty in handling and interfacing with such small scale materials. Specifically, for the most part, these materials are produced in bulk as free standing elements that must be positioned within an operational device. Accurate and reproducible positioning of these materials has proven difficult.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to be able to provide methods of positioning and orienting nanowires on substrates or within integrated devices or systems, in a reasonably practicable fashion. The present invention meets these and a variety of other needs.